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Dreams of a world powered by antigravity got quashed by a particle physics today. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It turns out that Einstein was right yet again. A recent experiment just proved that antigravity doesn’t exist and we probably won’t ever get to use antimatter to levitate or build a perpetual motion machine or power warp drives (sorry, Star Trek). Antimatter itself is very real. Made of particles that mostly behave like regular matter, but their electrical charges are reversed, an anti-proton looks just like a proton but has a negative charge, while an anti-electron (or positron) looks and moves just like an...

Ultrasonic sound waves have been used to levitate objects in crowded rooms to make hologram-like displays. Such acoustic levitation was previously only practical in empty spaces, but a new algorithm can quickly readjust the sound waves when they encounter an obstacle to keep the object in the air. Sound waves are comprised of air particles moving together. If manipulated in the right way, they can pick up and move objects. However, if the sound waves run into some other object that reflects or scatters them, the levitating object can come tumbling down. Ryuji Hirayama at University College London and his...

When you think of magnets you probably imagine being a kid in class playing with them for the first time, figuring out that forces we can’t see have the ability to manipulate physical objects. We can make things affected by the magnetic waves, but not until recently have we been able to “program” them. A highly innovative company from Alabama have introduced to the world “Polymagnets,” and they’re incredible. They’re guaranteed to be one of the coolest things you see today!

The essence of levitation technology is the countervailing of gravity. It is known that an ultrasound standing wave is capable of suspending small particles at its sound pressure nodes and, so far, this method has been used to levitate lightweight particles, small creatures, and water droplets. The acoustic axis of the ultrasound beam in these previous studies was parallel to the gravitational force, and the levitated objects were manipulated along the fixed axis (i.e. one-dimensionally) by controlling the phases or frequencies of bolted Langevin-type transducers. In the present study, we considered extended acoustic manipulation whereby millimetre-sized particles were levitated and...

In quite an eerie feat, physicists have floated microscopic diamonds in midair using laser beams. Researchers have already used lasers to levitate extremely small particles, such as individual atoms, but this is the first time that the technique has worked on a nanodiamond, which, in this case, measures just 100 nanometers (3.9 x 10-8 inches) across, or more than 1,000 times thinner than a fingernail. In the new study, the physicists from the University of Rochester relied on the fact that a laser beam, which is made up of photons, creates a tiny force that usually can't be felt.....

FAIRFIELD, Iowa—Seekers of peace and personal fulfillment have streamed over the past three decades to this epicenter of transcendental meditation known for its ties to the Beatles' onetime spiritual leader. Though the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi is dead now, the college he founded here, with its Golden Domes of Pure Knowledge, remains. So do the lofty ideals of his meditation enthusiasts, many of whom have found the presidential candidate who they believe best embodies their aims: Texas Rep. Ron Paul. Thanks to its uncommon history, Fairfield and surrounding Jefferson County boast a large group of transcendental meditators—forming also what is perhaps...

A video created by researchers at Tel Aviv University in Israel has the Internet buzzing. Though rather simple, it just looks really cool, hence all the attention. It’s a demonstration of quantum locking, though to non-science buffs, it looks more like science fiction come to life. In the video a disc, obviously frozen due to the vapor rising from its surface hovers over a surface. This is nothing new of course, everyone’s seen it in science class. What is new is that when the demonstrator turns the disc, it stays hovered at that angle. This is in contrast to the...

LONDON: Scot physicists have found a way to make objects float in the air without any physical support, something that is known as the levitation effect. Professor Ulf Leonhardt and Dr Thomas Philbin of the University of St Andrews say that the "incredible levitation effects" can be achieved by reversing the Casimir force, which normally causes objects to stick together...

DUTCH magician Ramana has been doing his best to freak out American people by levitating in Times Square and in front of the White House. The illusionist, real name Wouter Bijdendijk, hovered several feet above the pavement with apparent ease. His only "prop" was a stick that he held with his left hand.

Levitation has been elevated from being pure science fiction to science fact, according to a study reported today by physicists.   In theory the discovery could be used to levitate a person In earlier work the same team of theoretical physicists showed that invisibility cloaks are feasible. Now, in another report that sounds like it comes out of the pages of a Harry Potter book, the University of St Andrews team has created an 'incredible levitation effects’ by engineering the force of nature which normally causes objects to stick together. Professor Ulf Leonhardt and Dr Thomas Philbin, from the University...

One giant leap for frogkind BY DAVE BARRY (This classic Dave Barry column was originally published June 8, 1997.) Get ready to dance naked in the streets, because scientists have finally done something that humanity has long dreamed about, but most of us thought would never happen within our lifetimes. That's right: They have levitated a frog. I swear I am not making this up. According to an Associated Press article sent in by a number of alert readers, British and Dutch scientists ''have succeeded in floating a frog in air.'' They did this by using magnetism, which, as you...

Scientists have now levitated small live animals using sounds that are, well, uplifting. In the past, researchers at Northwestern Polytechnical University in Xi'an, China, used ultrasound fields to successfully levitate globs of the heaviest solid and liquid—iridium and mercury, respectively. The aim of their work is to learn how to manufacture everything from pharmaceuticals to alloys without the aid of containers. At times compounds are too corrosive for containers to hold, or they react with containers in other undesirable ways. "An interesting question is, 'What will happen if a living animal is put into the acoustic field?' Will it also...